The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2024 governorship election in Edo state, Barrister Olumide Akpata has attributed electoral loss at his polling unit to vote buying and selling, allegedly by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Akpata who came third behind the APC and PDP candidates in the election, disclosed this to journalists in Benin City on Monday.
He said his resolve not to be part of votes merchants was not political naivety, “but a testament to the LP unwavering commitment to true democracy—where a vote’s value lies in its power to effect change and not in the amount of Naira it can command.”
According to him, “Nothing illustrates this principle more clearly than the loss of my own polling unit.
“If I were so inclined, I could have easily mustered enough
cash to secure enough votes to win my poling unit. But that is not the path we chose.
“Instead, we remained faithful to our brief in the sanctity of the ballot and the inalienable right of our people to freely choose their leaders without coercion inducement.”
Akpata added that the LP reserve its strongest condemnation for those who engaged in vote buying, adding, “what transpired on 21st September 2024 was not an election but a transaction.”
He said, “I hold no sympathy for the PDP, who now cry foul after being outmaneuvered in this macabre game of thrones.
“They (PDP) willingly participated in the bidding war with the APC, fully aware of the rules from the outset.
“Their lamentations ring hollow in the face of their own complicity in this democratic travesty.”